


Young Blood

by lannisterslioness



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Love, First Time, Lots of firsts because they're teenagers falling in love in the middle of a war, Pre-Canon, Teenagers, Young
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-09-27 12:34:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10020995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannisterslioness/pseuds/lannisterslioness
Summary: When Jyn Erso was just sixteen, she was left behind by Saw Gerrera, unknowingly to to protect her, though Jyn assumed she was abandoned. She was abandoned, however, until seventeen year old rebel fighter Cassian Andor discovered her waiting down in the hole where she had been left. While Jyn lies about her true identity to Cassian to protect herself, when he takes her back to the Rebellion, she can't help but feel drawn to him and vice versa. But when Cassian gets close to her, and people start to figure out that she isn't really Tanith Pontha, Jyn will do anything to protect Cassian, the boy she unknowingly has fallen in love with.





	1. Two Lonely Kids

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Early posting today! I have work today sadly and just really wanted to post this, I've been working on it for a few days and just fell in love with the idea of Cassian finding Jyn after she was left behind by Saw. I fudged their ages a bit so they'd be closer in age range, cause I just wanted to write a fic about two crazy teens falling in love in the middle of a dangerous war time. Hopefully you guys like this first chapter, I had fun writing it, and comments are always appreciated, they keep me going! <3

Saw would come back, Jyn knew he would, he wouldn’t just leave her behind as so many others had before - he wasn’t her father, he wasn’t someone who would abandon her and leave her on her own - and yet...it had been two days. Jyn had been sitting in this rotting and filthy hole in the ground for two days, gripping onto her blaster with all her might and trying to ignore the growl of her stomach telling her to crawl out, despite Saw not yet returning. She was supposed to wait, she couldn’t leave, who knew what would happen if she left though it sounded peaceful up above, no more sounds of a struggling battle echoing above her. Jyn was tempted to climb out of the hole sometime after the sun had past it’s hottest point, she knew it’d be safer to look if it was darker outside, she could hide in the darkness better should the worst still be above her. Just as she made her move to do so, she heard the faint sounds of someone talking up above as fear made her grip her blaster tighter, aiming it at the hatch as she heard them draw closer and closer to where she was. 

 

Her hands were shaking, both from how tightly she gripped the blaster, and the lack of food she’d eaten in the past few days, despite all of this, she wasn’t ready to go down without a fight. 

 

“There’s no sign of anyone out here.” She heard the voice speak up, it sounded like a boy, probably not much older than her, maybe seventeen if he were lucky judging by the lack of cracking in his voice. 

 

“Gerrera’s rebels must have gotten the hell out of there.” A voice over a comm replied, slightly staticy. “Kriff, alright, get back to the ship Andor, we’re leaving in ten.” 

 

“Alright.” The boy replied. 

 

For a moment Jyn thought he would leave, she was waiting to hear his footsteps walk away; someone was looking for Saw and the group, they could have been Imperial though it didn’t sound like they were speaking through Stormtrooper masks. But then she heard him kneel down and brushing the sand off the hatch, pulling it open with all his might, and as soon as he was in sight, Jyn had her blaster locked on him, her finger hovering over the trigger and ready to shoot. 

 

“Whoa, whoa, hey, it’s okay, it’s alright.” The boy tried to calm her, his brown eyes filled with shock, though they were twinged with something else, something sad. “I’m not Imperial, I’m with the Rebellion.” 

 

“What makes you think I wouldn’t shoot someone from the Rebellion?” Jyn asked harshly, she more than likely wouldn’t in all honesty, unless they were shooting at her. 

 

“Because you haven’t shot me yet.” He replied with a bit of a smirk. “Are you hurt?” 

 

“...No.” Jyn replied cautiously, her arms beginning to shake from holding the blaster up for so long. “Why do you care?” 

 

“You’re sitting down here in this hole, seems like you’re hiding from something, and you certainly don’t seem like the kind of girl who would get scared and run from a fight, so you must be hurt.” He explained. 

 

Her leg had been grazed during the battle, it didn’t bother her so much now and she didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but that wasn’t exactly why she was down in this hole - not that he needed to know that. 

 

“Let me help you out.” The boy held down a hand for her to grab and help her get out of the hole. 

 

Jyn hesitated for a moment, she could get out of this hole and leave, miss any chance of Saw coming back for her; or she could accept what she’d been denying, that Saw wasn’t coming back, and at the very least if this boy was telling the truth about being with the Rebellion, he could help her get her leg fixed up before she’d go...somewhere. Anywhere to get away from here and the realization that she’d been abandoned - again. Making up her mind, Jyn grabbed his hand and hoisted herself to her feet carefully before beginning to climb out slowly, putting all her weight on her good leg for the time being. When she made it out of the hole, the boy grabbed ahold of her and helped her stand up, glancing down at her leg to see her wound - from the look on his face, it must have been worse than she thought. 

 

“Come on, let’s get your leg fixed up, there are medkits back on my ship.” He offered. “What’s your name?” 

 

“...Tanith.” Jyn replied quickly, no one, especially not the Rebellion who would surely kill her in a heartbeat for being the daughter of Galen Erso, could know who she was. “What about you? What’s your name?” 

 

“Cassian.” He offered up with a smile, his eyes studying her face perhaps a bit longer than what was appropriate until he cleared his throat and looked away, slightly embarrassed judging by the slight blush on his cheeks that Jyn could just barely make out in this light. 

 

She probably looked like hell, between the battle and spending two days in that hole, she more than likely didn’t look her best, which made her wonder why this boy Cassian would even cast a glance at her. But he did, and he was flustered just a bit from what Jyn could read into about how he was acting, how he tentatively wrapped an arm around her waist to help support her as they started their trek back towards his ship. Not that Jyn really knew how boy’s minds worked, she was only sixteen and between the war and having to always be on the run to hide who she was, she never really had the time or reason to bother with guys. Though she had to admit that there was something about this Cassian guy that stirred something in her stomach. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Colonel Draven was not an easy man to work with on a daily basis when no mission went wrong or out of the ordinary; bringing back a girl who was possibly one of Saw Gerrera’s rebels that got left behind for unknown reasons other than being injured - which Cassian fully believed there were other reasons Tanith was left behind - it would be a difficult conversation to say the least. But he couldn’t leave her behind, her leg was awful, left alone any longer it would surely get infected, and technically Tanith was a rebel, just not officially Cassian supposed, but maybe he could offer the chance up to her to join the Rebellion. He didn’t trust her fully, he never trusted anyone fully ever since he was a child, but the Rebellion needed soldiers, Tanith was clearly a more than capable soldier. 

 

“Wait here for a minute.” Cassian said, helping Jyn sit down on a nearby boulder while she winced in pain, the ship just a few feet away. “I have to talk to my Colonel, we’ll fix you up and see what we can do for you from there.” 

 

“Thank you.” Tanith replied quietly. 

 

Cassian barely set foot on the ship before the Colonel stepped in front of him, the always ever sour expression on his face that Cassian had grown used to ignoring most of the time. 

 

“Andor, what’s with the girl?” The Colonel asked, having already noticed Tanith sitting outside. 

 

“She’s hurt, she was one of Saw Gerrera’s rebels, they left her behind.” Cassian replied. 

 

“I’m not surprised, they’re not exactly the most considerate people in the galaxy.” Colonel Draven sighed; the Colonel may have been a hard ass, but he did have a certain weakness for injured soldiers - he never liked to leave them behind or stranded. “Go fix her up, give her the usual offer. If she doesn’t want to come we’ll drop her off at an outpost or something.” He said as he tossed Cassian a med kit. 

 

“Thank you, Colonel.” Cassian gave a brief nod before exiting the ship, feeling the Colonel’s gaze on him watching his every move; he was still only a Lieutenant, but Cassian knew how to handle people - he’d been doing it his entire life. “Here, let me see your leg.” Cassian said as he approached Tanith, trying to look at how bad the wound was herself. 

 

Cassian kneeled in front of her, it wasn’t broken thankfully, but it had a deep cut followed with a pretty good blaster shot, not to mention how swollen it had gotten from her spending god knows how many days in that hole he found her in. Without hesitation, Cassian started trying to clean up the wound a bit, he didn’t realize he might have been going about it a bit roughly until Tanith yelped in pain. 

 

“Sorry, are you alright?” He asked immediately concerned. 

 

“I’m fine.” Tanith nodded, wiping away the tears that had welled up in her eyes from the pain. “I’m fine.” She repeated. 

 

“I’ll be done in a minute, once the bacta is on there it’s going to hurt a lot.” Cassian warned her as he opened up the bacta pack; her wounds were pretty bad and had been left open for a while, it was going to start working right away to try and repair everything, and that meant it was going to hurt like hell. “Alright?” He asked tentatively. 

 

Tanith just nodded, biting down on her lower lip and seeming to be bracing herself for the pain that was about to hit her. Without hesitation, Cassian applied the bacta where it needed to go on the major wounds and started wrapping her leg up with bandages, Tanith doing her best to keep still despite the look of utter pain on her face. With the bandages wrapped, Cassian secured them quickly with some medical tape before standing up and offering a hand out to her to help her up. 

 

“I just need to sit for a minute.” Tanith replied through gritted teeth, her hands clenched into fists while she resisted the urge to just tear at the bandages to make the pain stop. 

 

“Okay.” Cassian nodded, taking a seat beside her on the boulder. “Mind if I ask you something?” 

 

“Ask away, I’m not going anywhere yet.” She tried to keep her tone level despite everything, she was certainly stronger than most people Cassian had ever met before. 

 

“Do you know where Saw and his rebels would have gone?” He asked curiously. 

 

“No.” Tanith shook her head, Cassian studied her face and knew it was a sincere answer, she wasn’t showing the usual or even unusual tells of lying, they’d truly left her behind. 

 

“Do you have anywhere else to go?” Cassian offered up the choice, he knew most people weren’t exactly jumping at the chance to join the rebellion, especially people who had already been fighting with another fringe group, they were usually looking for a way out. 

 

“Not really, it’s just me.” Tanith replied more somberly now, still looking at her Cassian knew that this was again the truth. 

 

“...The Rebellion could always use more fighters.” Cassian finally said it, Tanith looking up at him now, that offer always caught people’s attention - for better or worse. “I know it’s probably the last thing you want to do after all you’ve been through here, but-” 

 

“I’ll go.” Tanith cut him off, it was an eagerness Cassian had never seen before, but he supposed since she truly seemed to have no where else to go, the Rebellion was her best chance at survival. 

 

“Are you sure?” Cassian asked. 

 

“I’m sure.” She nodded. “Fighting is all I really know anyway, that and stealing.” 

 

“Well, you probably won’t have to do much of the stealing part, unless you join the Rebel Intelligence where I am, then you’ll do a lot of stealing.” Cassian said with a slight smirk. 

 

“You do a lot of fighting too?” Tanith asked curiously. 

 

“Yeah, when things go bad.” Cassian nodded. 

 

“Maybe I will then, after all, those are my specialties.” Tanith grinned for the first time since Cassian had found her, and for some reason that made something in his heart flutter at the sight of it - knowing that he managed to make her smile despite everything she’s been through. 

 

“Let’s get you home then and looked at by a doctor.” Cassian sighed. 

 

“Home?” Tanith asked. 

 

“Oh, uh, the base. I just call it home, I’ve been fighting with the Rebellion for a while.” Cassian explained, in truth the Rebellion was practically the only home he ever knew, and would likely be the only home he ever knew. 

 

“Okay...let’s go home.” Tanith nodded, that slight smile still playing on her lips. 

  
Something about the way she smiled told Cassian that he was falling into something he didn’t quite understand, something that made him want to smile back and stirred something in his gut when she looked at him like that. It wasn’t anything he’d ever felt before around anyone, and while he quite liked the feeling, he knew it could possibly be dangerous - but for once, he didn’t care about the danger, he just cared about making Tanith smile. 


	2. Rebel Material

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: finally got another chapter of this au done! this au is one of my favorites, i just love the idea of them meeting so young and being able to take their time. and for a heads up, no, they will not die in this fic, i feel the need to put that out there! 
> 
> p.s. if you haven't read it already, there's an article on Entertainment Weekly that basically confirms in the alternate version of Rogue One, Jyn and Cassian lived. i would give anything to get that version instead of the sad one we got.

            It wasn’t part of Jyn’s plan to go back to the rebel base with Cassian and his commanding officer.

 

            Her plan was to use some of her training and flirt her way into getting them to make a put stop on some planet so she could gather herself and find a way to contact Saw. Instead she’d found herself just talking to Cassian, not trying to persuade him or anything like that, just enjoying talking to another person while he kept checking the bandages on her leg. It took about two days for them to reach wherever it was that they kept the base, and she couldn’t explain why she wasn’t itching to leave and run away from Cassian and his commander, mostly Cassian really, she could easily have left Draven behind without a second thought.

 

            “Here, let me help you Tanith.” Cassian offered up his hand to help keep her steady while she climbed down the deck of the ship.

 

            “Oh, uh, thanks.” She replied, slightly caught off guard by his genuine kindness.

 

            She’d almost forgotten that she gave him one of her aliases, he’d been so easy to talk to she could have let so many things slip that she doesn’t remember. Then again, she figured that’s what made him a good rebel operative, if he made people feel comfortable, he could get them to tell him anything. Jyn knew she’d have to be more careful from now on, they weren’t forcing her to join the Rebellion which meant she could get her leg patched up and get a ride from someone else, preferably someone she could keep her guard up with.

 

            “I’ll get you to the med bay.” Cassian assured her, his hand going to her waist once he got her arm around his shoulder for balance and guided the way.

 

            “Thank you.” She replied meekly, why was he being so damned nice to her?

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

            The medical bay was _not_ one of Jyn’s favorite places, she hated having to deal with wounds in general, but she had to be here now – surrounded by the injured and overwhelmed with the scent of sterilization. She’d been operated on, against her will mostly, and had bacta treatments, again against her will; Jyn couldn’t wait until she could finally get out of this place. Her eyes were just about to drift shut, it’d been a long day between the surgery and dealing with the droids who gave her all the bacta packs for treatment, until her door opened and she groaned at the sound.

 

            “If you’re here to poke me with more needles, just leave now, I’m fine.” Jyn called out.

 

            A light laughter filled the room and she turned her head to see Cassian in the doorway. “I don’t have any needles, I promise.”

 

            “Glad someone is amused by this.” Jyn grumbled. “I’ve been poked with more needles and knives today than I’ve been shot at or stabbed out there fighting.”

 

            “At least these were to help you, not hurt you.” He commented.

 

            At that Jyn went silent, he had a point, it was rare that anything helped her honestly. “Yeah, guess you’re right.”

 

            “Do you have any pain?” Cassian asked, curiosity laced in his tone.

 

            Jyn pointed over to the bottles of pain killers on her nightstand. “They’ve given me enough of this stuff to be pain free for the next decade.”

 

            Cassian laughed again and walked over to her bedside, glancing at the bottles on her nightstand. “You must have been in rough shape, they give this stuff to people who almost lose limbs but you acted like it was just a bruise.”

 

            “I’ve handled worse pain.” Jyn hiked up the white t-shirt the staff had given her here along with the blue medical pants that had been modified to shorts given her condition, and showed off the huge scar that went from the middle of her ribcage all the way to her side. “Heated Vibroblade that someone modified, if it hadn’t been for the fact that it was heated I probably would have died. They were just trying to get me to talk though, they didn’t have the guts to actually kill me.”

 

            Cassian pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and revealed a scar that was almost equally as hideous as hers. “Vibro-ax. Almost didn’t get out of there alive.”

 

            “Looks pretty healed over, something tells me you got that one a while ago.” Jyn noted.

 

            “Yeah, I was fifteen I think, it was around when I joined the Rebellion.” Cassian replied.

 

            “You joined that young? I didn’t think they even let you join that young.”

 

            “They, uh, they don’t.” He admitted. “I lied, I’m sure there were people who could tell, but they needed soldiers so badly they never said anything about it, they still need soldiers, but you don’t see too many kids running into war unless they have to.”

 

            “I understand.” Jyn assured him, covering up her scar again as Cassian did the same. “I’ve been fighting for a while too.”

 

            “Either way, I came to see if you were alright.” Cassian changed the subject, Jyn would have to remember that this was something he was sensitive about, she might need it in the future if worse came to worse. “When you’re healed, we’ll get you on a ship to wherever you need to go.”

 

            “Thanks.” Jyn nodded.

 

            “I’ll let you get some rest, goodnight Tanith.” Cassian stated.

 

            “Goodnight Cassian.” She replied.

 

            He was on his way out of the room, doors opening as he stepped in front of it, Jyn didn’t want him to leave just yet.

 

            “Wait,” she spoke up, “what if I wanted to stay?”

 

            “You mean stay here with the Rebellion?” Cassian asked, to which Jyn replied with a nod. “How old are you?”

 

            “Sixteen.” She replied quickly.

 

            Cassian chewed on his lower lip and nodded while lost in thought. “I can have someone make up some scan docs for you to say your eighteen. Other than that, they’ll just put you through some initial training and figure out where to place you from there.”

 

            It felt foreign, this need tugging at Jyn’s heartstrings telling her she needed to keep Cassian close; it was more than likely because he was the only one familiar in this new place, but she just needed to cling to something until she felt like herself again. “Will I get to work with you?”

 

            “Me?” Cassian asked, clearly caught off guard by her request, but he proceeded either way. “Not all the time, unless you specialized in espionage, it’s not for everybody really. But at first I might get to work with you on training if I put in a request. They know how I found you and they might take it easy since there’s nothing urgent at the moment.”

 

            “That’d be nice.” Jyn responded, offering up a faint smile. “I just feel…comfortable with you.”

 

            “Me too.” Cassian nodded, a small smile playing on his lips now as well. “I’ll go get in contact with my guy to get you some scan docs then.”

 

            “I feel like I’ve said this to you a million times now but, thank you, really.” Jyn hadn’t said thank you to someone so much before in her life, she supposed she never had the chance most of the time, but for some reason she felt that he needed to hear it.

 

            “It’s not a problem.” He grinned. “I’ll see you tomorrow, goodnight.”

 

            “Goodnight.” Jyn watched him walk out the door, and for the first time in a long time, she had a good night of sleep shortly after he left.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

            Two days later and Tanith was on her feet again, handing in scan docs that let her officially join the Rebellion, though they wouldn’t put her in training until next week after giving her leg more time to heal. Cassian might have persuaded a few people to let Tanith bunk in the room he was assigned to, his previous bunk mate had just been moved into pilot quarters either way, and he managed to convince them that it would be convenient since he had been approved to help train her with some of the espionage skills he’d learned over the years. There was something about Tanith that was different, he couldn’t quite figure out yet if it was good or bad, she had come from Saw’s band of rebels after all, but he was slowly piecing together that his interest in her was clearly more than just trying to figure her out, it was something _more_ , and that was perhaps the most dangerous feeling of all.

 

            He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in until he noticed how relaxed Tanith seemed knowing that she’d have his presence there. She didn’t tense up or give fake smiles as he’d expected most anyone in the situation to do whenever he came on a bit too strong, she seemed to welcome the idea and Cassian managed to reason that it was because he was familiar to her, and that told Cassian what he needed to know about a person like Tanith.

 

            “Are you sure you’ll be comfortable here?” Cassian questioned as he helped her sit down on her bunk before putting some space between them and sitting down on his, giving her a moment to breathe.

 

            “I’ll be fine Cassian.” She assured him, the faintest hint of a smile on her face.

 

            Tanith was, and felt, completely alone. For whatever reason, whether it be she was simply forgotten, chose to stay behind, or was left behind on purpose – she was alone and couldn’t entirely hide the fact that she hated it. She was tough, that wasn’t an act by any means, and she could truly handle herself if left on her own, but there was some part of her that wanted someone there – which was why, he figured, that she was ready to jump into the Rebellion head first. Tanith needed people, whether she wanted to admit that or not, she needed people around her to keep something deep within her at bay that threatened to make her fall apart. Cassian was a spy through and through, he almost hated that he could read her so easily, but it was his job, and despite the special interest he took in Tanith, he needed to keep an eye on her until she proved trustworthy as well.

 

            “I think I’ll get some rest, believe it or not I’m a bit tired after having to drag around this thing.” She lifted up her leg and laid back on the bed, the doctors had ordered that she didn’t strain herself and so far, she’d been following orders.

 

            “They’re putting out dinner in the mess hall, do you want to eat first?” Cassian asked, testing a theory to see if he could get some more background information out of her.

 

            “No thanks, I’m not hungry.” Tanith sighed, pulling the blankets up over her now and getting comfortable.

 

            She was undoubtedly someone used to running, used to not having food around all the time and would only eat when necessary, even then not enough which he figured explained the concern some of the medics were whispering about with her being underweight and a bit malnourished. Surely they pumped her full of vitamins as much as they could while they had her in their care, but that wouldn’t be enough to really help her.

 

            “Alright, get some sleep then, I can start teaching you a few things tomorrow.” Cassian promised.

 

            “I look forward to it.” She replied, that smile still on her lips.

 

            Cassian left the room shortly after that, checking back in ten minutes later and seeing that she was fast asleep, he knew that everything was truly taking its toll on her. When he returned from dinner, he came back with a plate of food for her, the scent of it waking her up almost instantly and yet another thank you falling from her lips; lips that Cassian decided he rather liked seeing smile or say his name, lips that haunted his dreams and he hoped he didn’t make a sound to wake Tanith from her slumber that night.


End file.
